* BadPowersGoodPeople: According to [[WordOfGod Bioware]], the Hawke featured in the ''Destiny'' trailer is canonically a [[BadPowersGoodPeople Blood Mage]]. * BeamMeUpScotty: In fanfiction and even on this very wiki, Varric's nickname for Fenris is often said to be "Broody", despite the fact that in the game, he refers to him once as the "broody elf", and otherwise just calls him "Elf."* ExecutiveMeddling: The game's development was rushed in order to capitalize on the success of the previous installment. * FanNickname: ** "Dragon Effect," because this game borrows some elements (voiced protagonist, dialogue wheel, greater focus on action than tactics) from ''Franchise/MassEffect''.*** "Diplomatic" and "Aggressive" are more commonly referred to as [[Franchise/MassEffect "Paragon" and "Renegade."]]** The female Hawke is called Lady Hawke (some use it deliberately because of the movie ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}'') by some of the fanbase. "[[PunnyName Mike]]" is a favorite name for Male Hawke, for [[IncrediblyLamePun some reason]]...* IKnewIt: A few fans noticed that Qunari, other than Sten, likely possessed horns in ''Origins'' and that trait might turn up in future installments. Sure enough, the Qunari faction were redesigned with horned heads being the norm in the sequel. The hints came from a lone codex entry and the darkspawn Ogres (once you learn where they come from). Behind the scenes, Sten was originally supposed to be horned, but they proved problematic when mapping them to helmets, so he lost them.* TheOtherDarrin: ** Isabela, who was voiced by Mika Simmons for her brief appearance in ''Origins'', is voiced by Victoria Kruger here.** Merrill, who was previously voiced by Erin Matthews for the Dalish Warden's origin story in ''Origins'', is voiced by Creator/EveMyles here.** Anders, previously voiced by Cullen's VA, Greg Ellis, is voiced by Creator/AdamHowden here because unspecified "shenanigans" made it impossible to hire Ellis for such a large role.* SimilarlyNamedWorks: The DLC ''The Exiled Prince'' shares its name with the second installment of the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' hidden object games. They were even released within ten days of each other in 2011.* TalkingToHimself: Nicholas Boulton voices Male!Hawke, Malcolm Hawke in ''Legacy,'' and Baron Arlange in the ''Mark of the Assassin'' DLC.* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ** ''Dragon Age II'' was originally going to be a GaidenGame called "''Dragon Age: Exodus,''" with the plot for what would later become ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' being planned for ''Dragon Age II''. Among other differences, Hawke was originally intended to be an NPC named [[TheVonTropeFamily Ulrich Von Hawke]] who was a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] with a tendency for LickingTheBlade, thus explaining the blood splatter on the default character appearance.** Anders wasn't the only candidate for the "renegade mage" role. David Gaider has said that Velanna was also considered in early development to potentially join Hawke's companions and serve as the new host for Justice.** The boss fight against [[spoiler: Orsino]] was originally going to be exclusive to the Templar endgame. However, it was added to the mage endgame for the sake of another boss fight.** Anders' cat Ser-Pounce-A-Lot was going to still be around, walking around in Anders' clinic. However, he was cut since it would require making a new character model, and Anders' dialogue about the Wardens forcing him to give his pet away was added to explain his absence. ** The ''Exiled Prince'' DLC was originally going to have Nathaniel Howe play a major role. While Nathaniel can still appear in the main game, he was cut from the DLC due to the possibility of his death in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]''.** Much like how ''Origins'' has ''Awakening'', ''Dragon Age II'' was going to have an expansion pack called ''Exalted March,'' but this was cancelled due to other projects. Some of the story elements were kept for ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' instead.** There was [[http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/73010278975/on-plots-returning-as-dlc meant to be]] a third post-release story DLC, but it was at first lumped with ''Exalted March'', and then canceled altogether along with it. The basic storyline, however, has been worked into ''Inquisition''.** Those who lamented the fact that Varric was not a romance option could be either cheered or further disappointed by the statement that an extra scene was cut from the very end of the game. According to WordOfGod, they considered adding a scene after Cassandra releases Varric, in which he reunites with Hawke and reassures her/him that while he did tell the Seeker the whole story, "I didn't tell her anything about ''us''." The scene in question, however, was never actually crafted or voiced.** The Coterie was [[http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/73010278975/on-plots-returning-as-dlc meant to have]] its own SidequestSidestory, mostly tied to Varric's character arc, but was cut due to lack of time and funding.** Another one about Varric: The ending of the cancelled ''Exalted March'' would have resulted in the death of Varric. Obviously, with him as a returning party member in the sequel, this has been scrapped completely.** Check out some concept art [[http://mattrhodesart.blogspot.ca/2013/07/concept-art-behind-scenes.html here]] (the first part is ''Mass Effect'' - scroll down). Most of the cast are recognizable, but Merrill and Fenris "the widowmaker" had some ''drastically'' different looks.* WordOfGay: [[http://social.bioware.com/index/forum/1/topic/315/index/11724520/4#11788695 The Viscount's son, Saemus.]]----